2016 Employment Law Updates

A useful snapshot of the latest employment updates. The changes to National Living Wage are undoubtedly having an impact on many small businesses. For more detailed advice we do recommend speaking to your HR Advisor or our associate Thornber Employment Law

NATIONAL LIVING WAGE AND EMPLOYEE GRIEVANCES

As you should all now be aware all workers who are aged 25 or over must now receive at least £7.20 per hour due to the introduction of the National Living Wage on 1st April 2016.

We are receiving many calls from our clients who have met with resistance since 1st April from younger workers who are not old enough to receive the National Living Wage. The employee grievances relate specifically to the situation where workers are paid according to the National Minimum Wage structure but workers under 25 are more senior to those 25 or over but are now receiving less pay than them. There isn’t any legal obligation to increase the younger worker’s pay purely because of this particular effect of the National Living Wage.

COMMISSION AND HOLIDAY PAY

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has decided that a worker should have had his holiday pay increased to reflect the amount of commission he would ordinarily earn when he was working.

This judgment represents a double blow for employers who have already had to consider changing their holiday pay practices in relation to certain types of overtime because of a separate judgment a couple of years ago.

However, this is a developing area of law and the judgment is likely to be appealed meaning it may or not be overturned.

SHARED PARENTAL LEAVE AND GRANDPARENTS

As part of the Government Budget in March, Chancellor George Osborne set out the timeline for the extension of shared parental leave to grandparents.

The Government announced last year that the right to take shared parental leave would be extended to working grandparents to provide even more flexibility to the systems which allows parents more choice over who provides the care for their new born baby or adopted child, and how time off work will be shared.

Shared parental leave was introduced for babies born on or after 5th April 2015, giving mothers the right to choose one person to share a year’s leave with, and being able to take leave flexibly throughout that year. Currently, the one person that leave can be shared with is one of the following: the baby’s father; the mother’s husband/civil partner or partner.

The ball will begin rolling on the extension in May 2016 when the Government will set out their initial proposals and invite views from the public. It is still expected that grandparents will be able to take shared parental leave from April 2018.

This is likely to mean that many older employees will remain in work for longer. Older employees should not be treated differently in terms of targets or other required productivity levels placed on them - employers can still expect the same from them.

Don’t forget – in employment law, unless you can objectively justify it, there is no retirement age.